The present disclosure relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Salvia plant, also known as a sage, a perennial that is grown for use as an ornamental landscape and container plant. The new variety is known botanically as Salvia×jamensis and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Ignition Purple’.
‘Ignition Purple’ originated and was selected from a large population of hybrid seedlings from a Salvia breeding program which was started in 2009. The breeding program was conducted in a greenhouse nursery in Elk, Calif. A controlled hybridization was carried out in 2012 using pollen collected en masse from many proprietary selections. The identity of the male parent is unknown. The collected pollen was applied to the flowers of Salvia×jamensis ‘Mes Azur’, also known as ‘Mesa Azure’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,097).
Seeds from this hybridization were sown and a single plant was selected in 2013 for its intense vibrant deep purple flowers which are borne on compact plants with mid-green glossy leaves, and was subsequently named ‘Ignition Purple’.
‘Ignition Purple’ was first asexually propagated in early spring of 2013 in a greenhouse at the inventors nursery in Elk, Calif. using softwood tip cuttings. ‘Ignition Purple’ is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.